Jorge Macri squandered $9,000 million from Buenos Aires residents on political polls.

Amid the complete inoperability of the Buenos Aires Province sector, which affects both the middle and working classes equally, the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Airesdecided to commit almost 9 billion pesos (equivalent to 7.3 million dollars) to conducting surveys and public opinion studies, as stated in public tender 623-1653.LPU24 published in the Official Gazette.

The purpose of the contract is, verbatim, the "Service for Conducting Public Opinion Studies, in both quantitative and qualitative modalities, aimed at a specific group of people and related to specific topics". The tender doesn't specify either the content of the studies or their concrete usefulness for the average citizen.

Although Jorge Macri promised to reduce government spending after the electoral setback his administration suffered last May, reality shows otherwise. Not a single peso less for focus groups. Not a single cut in surveys. The total amount to be disbursed amounts to $8,778,750,436.35, and will be managed by the City's Ministry of Finance. The four pages of the bidding document do not include technical reports justifying such an investment, nor objective evaluation criteria.

A total of 24 private consulting firms were selected to share the multimillion-dollar prize. Among them are familiar names in PRO's political circle: Julio Francisco Antonio Aurelio, Poliarquía Consultores S.A., Isonomía, Zuban Córdoba, Opinaia, Prospectivas S.A., and Unistat Consulting S.A.

However, without a doubt, the big winner is the consulting firm Evangelina Pérez Aramburu, who  will receive $715,478,277.72 if the final award is confirmed. Pérez Aramburu is not an unknown figure: she is a longtime ally of Macrismo since the days of Jaime Durán Barba, and she authored the opinion studies that shaped PRO's political strategy over the past decade. In 2019, her reports were used to outline key lines of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta's "administration."

The published document is signed by the general director Marisa Andrea Tojo, and clarifies that the objection period is three business days starting from the first business day after its publication. Legally, the award  "was recommended due to more favorable offers, fully in accordance with the provisions of articles 100 and 102 of Law No. 2,095 (text consolidated by Law No. 6,764), whose regulations are found in articles 100 and following of Decree No. 129/23."